PCDW Now and Future Ad Revenue

Wow, there is talk all over the Internet concerning Diamond's distribution [they distribute comic books] raising their thresholds [the amount of books a publisher must sell each month in order for Diamond to distribute them], and Marvel comic books raising their cover price to 3.99 a book.

These are both very large revelations, the effects of either one could easily be debated indefinitely [and probably will be for some time]. That also means each event's Paper Comics Death Watch score would be very high indeed. You might say, and I'm going too, their scores would be incalculable [particularly since the entire scoring process is completely made up].

PCDW Score: ∞

With prices and thresholds going up at the same time, digital comic books are looking like a better and better alternative to all sorts of publishers...

Ads/Ad revenue

Ad revenue is largely believed to be the primary revenue source comic book companies use to make money. The more comics they sell, the larger an audience they can offer to their advertisers for which the publisher can demand a higher price for the space to advertise in the comics themselves.

Ads are becoming more and more frequent in comics and have been for years. Lets look at two similar comics for comparison:

In July 1984's Tales of the Teen Titans there are 25 story pages and 6 ad pages [not including the inside front and back cover].


In March 2009's Titans there are 22 story pages and 9 ad pages [again not counting the inside front and back cover]. That's an increase of thirty percent non-story pages for the consumer who's now getting less product for more money.

PCDW Score: 1000

Both issues have one single "info page" [weren't they doing letter pages in '84?] as their last printed page before the cover.

In the '09 Titans 8 of the 9 ad pages were for "in house" products [products that either directly or indirectly sold DC/Warner Bros. items that are related to comic books] and the 9th one is an ad for the movie "Push" which may still be linked to Warner Bros in some manner not advertised on the page it self.
In the '84 Titans only 2 of the 6 pages are "in house" ads. Others include ads for Nabisco and Kmart among others.

Now why would DC do that? Do you think they stopped selling ad space to Nabisco and Kmart? Not likely. Do you think Nabisco and Kmart [or any other advertiser] have pulled out of advertising in comics for some reason? More likely.

In either event why then would DC fill the ad pages with "in house" products? Why not take the opportunity to pull those pages from their books so they could print fewer pages, lower postage costs to the retailer, and make more money on each issue?

PCDW Score: 5000

Digital Comics fixes all of these problems.

With digital comics you could put any combination [within a tolerable limit] of extra ads into each issue of each comic book at little or no cost to the consumer or retailer. This is free money being thrown down the drain or left on the table as they say. Companies are all ready producing digital advertising for them selves and other retailers.

It would cost Kmart and Nabisco absolutely nothing to email over 10 pdfs to Warner Bros. instead of just one pdf to be placed in the digital comic book.

PCDW Score: 6000

And the hits just keep on coming. With web2.0, nu media, and social networking it would not be difficult at all for a comic book publishing company to interview you as the subscriber and fill your digital downloaded comic book with advertising that pertains specifically to you.

Your taste. Your gender. You're age group.

PCDW Score: 7000

I could go on here with eliminating the cost of paper from publishing comic books all together [the green way to go].

There's also the added benefit of a permanent archived library of every comic book published digitally. No more second printing, back orders, or purchasing on Ebay.

If say, in thirty years, someone wants to download Judd Winick's run on Titans they can do so from the publishing company just as if it were the same day it was released. The consumer doesn't have to worry about quality, clarity, or loss of value since its pristine kept digitally forever.

PCDW Score: 8000

Have a nice weekend


~Caine

Pierre Speaks: Putting Things in Perspective

While I was re-reading my last few blogs to try to decide what my next one would be about.... I could not help but think that some of my past blogs might give the impression that I am a bitter old fart who hates certain creators.

I don't hate certain creators.

But it can happen that I hate some of their work. I don't hate Brian Bendis, Jeff Loeb.... heck even Joe Q just to name a few. ;)

But I do hate some of their work. It's nothing personal.... since I never even met those guys. They could be great guys as far as I know.

But I hated/was not too crazy with the work they did for Hush, Batman/Superman: Public Enemies, House of M, Secret Invasion.... and of course.... One More Day. ;)

But I loved some of their work as well.

I loved Batman; the Long Halloween.

Batman/Superman; Vengeance (Batzarro was priceless), Sam & Twitch, Powers: Who killed Retro Girl,

and Sword of Azrael. ;)

I know that it is sometimes difficult for people to separate the man from the work.

And it is sometimes even harder for the creators to do so.

When someone says to a creator that his work suxxor, it is very difficult for most creators not to take it personally.

When you have spent countless hours behind your desk/drawing table trying to do the best possible work you can under the circumstances... it is difficult for some when all those hours spent end up with a crappy result.

It is even worse when the creator THINKS he did a great job.

Most have a tough time being objective when it comes to their own work, but I will stick with the artistic side since it is what I know best. Why is it so hard being objective??

It would probably take me a dozen blogs trying to come up with an answer to that one..... so I won't even try to.

But one trick I have picked up through the years is to look at the work of someone who you think is about at the same skill level as you are. Looking at his work objectively.... look at what he does well.... and look at the mistakes that he makes as well... then turn around and approach your own work keeping in mind the analysis you just made of someone else's work.

It does help to put things in perspective.

Sometimes it will help you spot in your work the same mistakes you just saw in his work.

I learned that while I was working on Bob Morane.

When I was working on Bob.... one of the many things I ended up doing was "fix" other people’s drawings.

So one day.... one of the main designer with who I was friendly came to my desk and we started chatting. As we were talking, he picked up the latest design pack from my desk and started looking through it.

And as he was flipping through it, he could see some of the changes we had made to the various designs. As he was looking through the design pack, he kept on saying how the changes were fair, justified, necessary, even a huge improvement over the original design.

But that was as he was seeing the changes that was done to the work of the other designers.

His designs were at the bottom of the design pack.

It was an illumination to see his face as he turned the page and saw the first of his designs.

He was not happy.

Not happy at all.

And the more he kept on looking through the pack, the less happy he was, and the more he was literally swearing as he turned each pages.

We did nothing different in the case of his designs. We did the same changes/modifications/"improvements" no matter who the designer was.

And he thought we had done the right thing..... with everyone else’s work.... but not when it came to his work.

In his mind.... what he was doing was EXACTLY what was needed.

Every line was perfect and should not have been changed for any reason.

Although he could SEE how the work of the other designers had been "improved".... he could not turn this around and apply it to his own work.

But it sure helped me realize that I could look at my own work through the work of others.

Although I can understand some of his surprise.

A few weeks before, he was telling me how, unlike some of the other designers, he was never getting ANY revisions. He was telling me how his designs were always right from the start and how even some of the designers were following his lead.

But what he did not know was that he was not given any revisions because somebody else was doing the revisions for him.

So it gave him the ILLUSION that his work was perfect.

On some projects, some of the artists are not receptive to making changes to their artwork. So sometimes the supervisor/art director/director does not ask them to make revisions to the artwork. The supervisor/art director/director would either make the revisions themselves, or ask someone else to make the revisions.

Why?

It is sometimes easier that way.

When faced with an artist that does great work, but that will fight you every inch of the way if you ask them to make changes to their work, it sometimes will be decided to just let the designer do what he does as long as he produces great work, and have someone else fix the work.

So with that in mind, the last thing he expected was to have some changes made to his designs.

Heck, sometimes it was not even changes, it was just making the drawing tighter as we were cleaning it.

I have been put in the position of fixing someone else's work wayyyy too often.

It can be awkward sometimes.

Once also on Bob, as the director was telling me what needed to be fixed on a design, he had not seen that the designer was standing just 3 feet away from us.

When he turned around and saw the designer it was a little awkward.

Although in that case the designer did not know why the director did not simply ask him to fix the design since he would have happily done so.

But sometimes, it is not a matter of not wanting to make the changes.

In that case, the director felt that the designer would not be able to make what he wanted even if he asked him. Or he might be able to, but would need to change it and change it a dozen times to finally get it right.

So once again.... it was easier/quicker just to ask me to fix it.

That too is something that I can turn around to gain a new perspective.

Everyone has their work changed.... even me. ;)

Heck even Kirby had changes made to his work by the truckload.

But whenever I see the changes made to Kirby's work.... I can turn around and look at my own work and not be devastated if it ends up being changed.

Heck if the work of the "King" was "fixed"..... then so can mine. ;)

But also while fixing the work of many others though the years..... I would not think less of them just because I had to "fix" their work. I was not thinking that they were any less talented because I was changing their work.

But sometimes it did not match with the style of the project we were working on... or heck sometimes the drawing was fine but just did not match with the vision that the director had in mind (will have to make a blog about that one day).

It happens.

So using that, I can turn it around and apply it to me. I can use that to cut myself a little slack if my work gets changed/fixed.

To get back to the creator's I mentioned.... that too is something I can turn around to gain a new perspective.

If I can hate some of their work.... but not think less of them because of it. When someone hates my work.... I can also use that not to think less of me. ;)

I can use that to put things in perspective and not take it personally.

Until next time.

Mister Crimison: Episode 24

Mister Crimson Episode 24
In which we get a hint at the Mayor's plans...
Read it here .:

Free Comics Monday: Pierre's Airboy and The Heap

As with last week, today I will preview two more characters that will be making cameo appearances in our Trial of the Red Death comic.

First here's Pierre's Airboy using what we call his Bob Morane style...

And an issue of Airboy Comics featuring Airboy.

[ Airboy Comics vol 4, number 11 ]

And here is Pierre's The Heap. By the way, when I say cameos, I really want to stress the fact that these will be minor appearances in our comic. (So, don't go getting all lawyered up yet McFarlane.)

And here is an issue of Airboy Comics featuring The Heap.

[ Airbody comics vol 9, number 7 ]

Enjoy!

Bronze Age Spotlight: Woodgod

Note from Jim - I'd like to introduce a new feature today to the FBU called Bronze Age Spotlight written by FBU friend Trey Causey. Trey has some really interesting insights into the Bronze Age that I thought you might enjoy, so he has graciously agreed to share them with us. I hope you enjoy it!

WOODGOD

Let's just say I know my audience.

Jim Shelley is a Woodgod fanatic, for reasons which will likely forever be obscure. So when Jim asked me to scribble something down periodically on characters of the Bronze Age to feed the hungry maw that is his blog --well, Woodgod would have to come first.

Let's get the basic facts. The man-brute (as he is called on the cover) known as Woodgod first appears in Marvel Premiere #31 in 1976--a title which also featured Alice Cooper (#50), so we may fairly call it eclectic.

Woodgod is the creation of Bill Mantlo who gave us a lot of pure, uncut Bronze Age (and near post-Bronze Age) product--The Micronauts, Rom, Cloak & Dagger, Jack of Hearts, and Rocket Racoon. I defy any real comics fan to NOT find something that hits their undiluted comics sweetspot among Manto's ouevre. Can't be done.

Now Woodgod also springs from the able hand of Kieth Giffen, who has given us a lot of good comics as well, but mostly post-Bronze Age. Woodgod, though, has that telltale Mantlo glow.

So Woodgod is a gentically engineered supercreature made in New Mexico. Frankensteinian in origin, and cloven-hooved to boot, he sends townsfolk into a violent frenzy of ignorance (as man-made creatures have a habit of doing) and they accidentally release some nerve gas that kills his creators--and themselves.

After fighting the army with the Hulk and Spider-Man, Woodgod eventually winds up in the Colorado Rockies. He begins practicing self-taught genetic engineering (he's a quick study) and creates some other half-animals to frolic with called the Changelings.

Where'd Mantlo get the inspiration for this? Well, the most obvious source is mythology since Woodgod resembles a satyr, or the Greek god Pan. His name even makes that explicit since nothing else is particularly godlike about him. Pan is traditionally the "god of wild places", which is almost a recapitulation of Woodgod's name.

The leadership of the changelings (the name traditionally given to fairies left to replace stolen children) ties in with this theme as well.

Pan is typically associated with the Horned Man or Horned God, one of the putative ancient deities of the pan-European witchcraft cult hypothesized by Margaret Murray's Witchcraft in Western Europe (1921)--which is really interesting if one doesn't let pesky things like historical fact get in the way of wild-eyed speculation, which Murray certainly didn't.

In any case, Cernunnos, fertility god of the continental Celts, is also horned. It's a common motif, whatever its origin.

The real meat of Woodgod's origin, though--genetic engineering and all that--seems weird for a character that's a shoutout to Greek myth, when Hercules and Venus are running around the Marvel Universe. No, I think the biggest inspiration must have been the Goatman.

The "Goatman" is a legend or cryptid (take your pick) originally reported in Maryland, but eventually sighted in a lot of places, some even in Colorado.

The Goatman was first reported in 1957, but the story really takes off in the seventies. Certainly by this point, if not before, the legend is of the typical "lover's lane" variety. You've heard 'em, I'm sure--teens making out are menanced by a killer or monster of some sort.

In this case, a satyr with an axe--which always struck me as an odd detail--why the axe?

Anyway, besides the axe, the other interesting tidbit about Goatman is that he comes with an honest-to-goodness origin story! Supposedly, the creature is the product of secret government genetic experiments--either as unholy creation (Frakenstein again) or tragic accident (Bruce Banner-style). See how the hoofprints begin to bear a resemblance to our man-brute hero?

Before this trail emerges from the woods, let's try to put these divergent paths together. We've got ancient gods with cloven hooves that represent the wilderness--and procreation.

The Goatman and Woodgod are tied to the wilderness, and procreation as well, through their links to genetic engineering. The Goatman, unlike his hooved brethen, is a double cautionary tale--not only is he made by man playing god, but he menaces teens with procreation on their minds. He's The Horned God inverted.

How about Woodgod? He proves his fertility (and his ancient connections) by learning the genetic arts and birthing children of his own, the Changelings in the pages of the Hulk.

Woodgod expressly wishes his changelings to become better than humanity--symbolically replacing them like their namesake fairies literally replace human infants.

You know, Woodgod's progenitor Pan was often accompanied by Priapus, a minor god with a permanent erection...I wonder how Bill Mantlo would've tackled that within the Comics Code?

Pierre Speaks: Rob Liefeld

Already.... I can hear the internet crack in two.

If there is one name that gets a passionate reaction all over the NET.... it is "Rob Liefeld".... although I would say that John Byrne is a close second.

There are those who LOVE his work and everything he does...... and there are those who HATE him with a passion that you would think that Rob spat in their Grand-ma's face or something.

I guess I am one of the few who love some of what Rob did.... and who is "meh" with some of what he did.

So lets focus on what Rob did that I love.

What is it??

Youngblood???

Heroes Reborn Captain America???

No.

The comic that made me a fan of Rob is....

Hawk & Dove.

Really??

Yes... really.

Although I am sure that many will point out that Karl Kesel probably did a lot to improve Rob's work on that book. Yes the combination of Rob's work with Karl's work was pure magic. But say what you will... without Rob.... there would have been no "combination". No "magic".

One thing you can say about Rob's work on Hawk & Dove is that when a character grinned.... he GRINNED.

And when Rob was drawing and evil character.... he REALLY looked EEEEEVILLLLL!!

Loved his portrayal of Kestrel.

And later, when I saw the "What If" issue featuring Wolverine.... once again it made me a fan.

I loved it.

Once again... yes I am sure that Scott Williams did a good job inking Rob's work.

But once again.. no Rob.... no work to ink.

And again.... no matter what many may say about Rob's work and how much they hate it.... there is one thing that no one can deny - Rob took New Mutants, Marvel's worst selling title at the time, and he turned it around into one of it's top seller. And it sold even more when it became X-Force.

Does sales = quality??

Of course not.

But still what he did is quite a feat that many were not able to match.

I can understand that there are many creators who feel that they are infinitely more talented then Rob. That they must think that if Rob is a millionaire.... so should they since "they are much more talented then Rob".

Even if that was true... things do not work like that.

No one can predict success (will have to make a Blog about that someday ;) ).

Many may have realised that when they launched their creator owned comic and expected it to sell at least as well, if not more, then Youngblood did.... . when they expected to become millionaires.

Imagine their dissapointment when it did not do so.

Heck some of them not only did not become millionaires.... but they almost lost their shirt with their creator owned comic.

It happens.

All one can do is make the best work he can.... and hope that people like what they did.

That's what Rob did... and good for him.... New Mutant became a commercial success.

And the rest is pretty much history.

Until next time. ;)

Mister Crimson: Episode 23

Mister Crimson Episode 23
In which our hero gets an unpleasant surprise.

Read it here .: